Félix A. López

By Andrea Fernández, Cláudio S. Lopes, Carlos González and Félix A. López

The applications of composite materials are rapidly growing. In the aeronautical sector, composites account for up to 50% of the weight of a modern typical commercial aircraft. However, the amount of composites currently recycled is less than 5% of the total amount produced. With environmental concerns becoming an increasingly influential topic, recyclability of composite materials is a key issue. Furthermore, several related European laws have been passed to minimize the environmental impact of composite structures and to make rational use of landfills. In this chapter, the authors analyze recycling techniques for carbon fiber composites with thermoset polymer matrix. The objective is to reuse the fibers in new, lower cost composites with similar properties. Starting from a pyrolysis step, followed by oxidation, an evaluation of the different parameters of the recycling process has been performed. The characterization of the fibers includes tensile tests, scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The recycled fibers presented a reduction of their initial tensile strength lower than 10%. Then, remanufacturing of laminates using the recycled fibers was achieved by resin film infusion, obtaining laminates with properties similar to the brand-new composites. These results have the potential to be exploited by the automotive, aeronautical, wind energy, construction, and other sectors.

Part of the book: Recent Developments in the Field of Carbon Fibers

By Francisco J. Alguacil and Félix A. Lopez

The adsorption of chromium(VI) from aqueous solutions onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has been investigated under various experimental conditions of initial metal concentration, agitation speed, aqueous pH, temperature and adsorbent dosage to assess the equilibrium and kinetic parameters. It was found that the kinetic data were fitted with the pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order models, whereas the chromium(VI) adsorption data were fitted with the Langmuir and Freundlich equilibrium models to give the characteristic parameters of each model. According with the evaluation, both isotherm models are useful to represent the measured adsorption data. The adsorption of chromium(VI) is also dependent on the temperature, and the corresponding thermodynamic parameters including ΔH°, ΔG° and ΔS° were estimated from the experimental data, indicating the exothermic and non-spontaneous nature of the metal adsorption onto the MWCNTs. Chromium(VI) desorption was investigated by the use of aqueous hydrazine sulfate solutions.

Part of the book: Water and Wastewater Treatment

By Francisco Jose Alguacil and Felix A. Lopez

The problem of the treatment of contaminated wastewaters is of the upmost worldwide interest. This contamination occurs via the presence of inorganic or organic contaminants of different nature in relation with the industry they come from. In the case of organic dyes, their environmental impact, and thus, their toxicity come from the air (releasing of dust and particulate matter), solid (scrap of textile fabrics, sludges), though the great pollution, caused from dyes, comes from the discharge of untreated effluents into waters, contributing to increase the level of BOD and COD in these liquid streams; this discharge is normally accompanied by water coloration, which low the water quality, and caused a secondary issue in the wastewater treatment. Among separation technologies, adsorption processing is one of the most popular, due to its versatility, easiness of work, and possibility of scaling-up in the eve of the treatment of large wastewater volumes. Within a miriade of potential adsorbents for the removal of organic dyes, this work presented the most recent advances in the topic.

Part of the book: Promising Techniques for Wastewater Treatment and Water Quality Assessment